A Guardian Angel
by Raphaella
Summary: Mikey's POV as he shows a memory of what happened when he was 8, how someone saved his life. He realizes there is no 'luck' for him and his brothers, and for once, he knew Donny was wrong.


An Angel

Michelangelo's POV:

~

   I never believed in any such thing as the supernatural, or things similar. I always had my brother, Donny, to convince me such things have and never could exist, and I was put-off by my other brother, Raphael's skeptic attitude. But my oldest brother, Leonardo, told me I should believe in what gave me hope, and I did: I believed in my brothers, and my father. But there was the one time in my younger life, when I was six, that made me a believer of one thing my brothers, and maybe even Leo, would not believe in: That each of us had someone in Heaven looking down at us. Was it _just _us?Because we were what we were? I don't know, and have never really questioned it too strongly. All I remember, is that a point in my life when I was six, for the first time I realized Donny was wrong . . .

**** ****

Nine Years ago 

   Splinter walked into the lair, having got back from looking on the streets above for the food they were short on, into a mess. His sons were extremely active, and this Splinter could understand. It also meant they could clean their home up as quickly as they had made the mess. The 'mess' included anything that could be knocked onto the floor such as mugs, the few utensils they had, a few dollar notes Splinter had collected, food wrappers, seat cushions from the lone piece of furniture they had, the couch, and few pieces of paper with Donatello's Times Table notes written in a small, slowly improving handwriting, a few messy drawings of Michelangelo, and ripped up pages with Hang Man on them, no doubt the lost game of Raphael. The place was a mess, but it was something Splinter was getting used to ever since the introduction of pencils, put to good use on the plain paper that had been picked up ages ago.

   The rat placed his findings of food on the couch and looked at the nearest piece of paper, marked in purple crayon with the 6 Times Table. Splinter allowed himself a small smile. His son taught himself with the books he had been able to find in the sewers. There had been many abandoned things for them to find, and a small case of books had been one that Donny had taken.

   His sons were no where to be seen in the main room, but he knew now that, if there was no sound to be heard, it usually meant they had tired themselves out and had collapsed, like they do, in the room they all shared. Splinter walked through their home to one of the two rooms located on the end wall in the shadows of the lair. Splinter open the door, and it creaked once, swinging slowly until it revealed the four small turtles in a pile, sleeping on each other in the corner of the room. They tire easily, and were as enjoyable to watch asleep as they were awake. Splinter chuckled, and walked back into the room. He started to clean the floor up himself, swooping up the things that littered the floor. He had soon finished his small job, piling Donatello's work on the small table the had, and throwing the ripped Hang Man games and the drawings Michelangelo had crossed out.

   It had been noontime when he had returned, and it was an hour later when his four sons woke up, feeling hungry and energized again. They tumbled out of the room as though they had never even been asleep, and dropped into cross-legged positions in front of their Master.

   "Master Splin'ner, is that our food?" Leo asked eagerly, sat perfect rigid while his brother slumped slightly.

   Splinter's eyes crinkled as his smile widened. "Indeed it is, Leonardo. Share fairly, my sons."

   All four two-foot high turtles jumped to their feet and picked up their portion of food Splinter had separated into four piles for them. It was a fresh loaf of bread his luck found for him, which he had split, and a packet of cookies someone had thrown out. He had taken out four, and saved the rest. He himself had eaten above on the small things he found. They had a small storage of food in their cupboards, but it was for when Splinter could not find anything above.

   "Splinter, can we go play in the sewers today?" Donny asked, the only turtle whose mouth was not crammed with food.

   "Yes, my son, but no straying past the tunnels I have shown you," the rat warned. "Do not go anywhere near the subway station."

   "We know, Master," Raphael spoke up with his mouth full. Splinter shot him a look, and Raph swallowed his food and muttered "Sorry" for speaking with his mouth full.

   The four finished their bread and then scoffed their cookies, finishing a minute later after they had licked their fingers and wiped their mouths.

   C'mon guys, let's go," Mikey said excitedly, the first to jump up. He dashed to their only entrance and exit to the lair, with the other three close behind.

   "Be careful, boys," Splinter called after them, and smiled as they called back together "We will!" And disappeared out the door. They were only six years old, but they had proved they could keep each other in check. They would not disobey Splinter either.

   "Race ya!" Mikey challenged his brothers, and broke into a run before his brothers could start before him. They gladly took his challenge and sped after him, following down the long, high tunnels, laughter bouncing off the walls around them creating a small echo.

   With a burst of speed Leo overtook them all, but was grabbed by Raph and they went tumbling, causing the other two to fall over them, giggling as they rolled.

   "Not fair, Raph you cheated," Leo stuck his tongue out at his brother with the red bandanna, who was readjusting it. It had twisted around his face. He returned the gesture.

   "Hey, wanna play Hide and Seek?" Mikey suggested, pulling Donny to his feet and in doing so fell back down on his shell, and having Donny pull him up.

   "We play that ev'ry time we're allowed out," Raph argued.

   "You don't like playin' 'cause you always get caught," Mikey shot back with a sly smile. It was a fact that every game of Hide and Seek they played it was usually Raph who was caught first, because he couldn't sit still long enough, or he made impatient noises.

   "Don't always!"

   "Do too!"

   "Hey," Leo spoke up. "Raph can prove he doesn't always get caught first by playing this time, yeah? Let's just do some fing."

   Donny nodded with a smile, and they did their usual Inee Meeni Myni Mo. Leo was chosen to count, and before he did so, he reminded his brothers of where they were not allowed to go.

   "Okay, 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . ." Their oldest began to count, eyes closed, turned towards the wall. His brothers dashed off to find a hiding place. They usually squeezed themselves behind large pipes and the walls, and in the odd crevice along the walls. The tunnels around the lair were limited, and they knew one area well, so Leo would not have too much trouble finding them. He planned to find Raph first though, just to show him he wasn't the best at keeping still.

   As Leo's counts faded into the next tunnel, Mikey grinned as he scoped for a good place to hide. His other two brothers had disappeared in their own direction, but they wouldn't be too far from each other. Mikey looked up above him and saw on the top of the wall and ceiling one large pipe, and two others. If he could get up there, he could wedge himself in-between them and the wall. Mikey continued to walk on; neck craned upwards looking for some way to get up. Leo was probably near fifty now, what they went up to, and Mikey began to jog. He didn't realize he had gone out of the area he was restricted to until\his small body froze upon hearing voices. His first thought was that it was Leo and perhaps Raph who he had found first. But they were NOT his brothers' voices, and he realized with a horrible jolt that he was much to close to the subway station Splinter warned them not to go near, and with an even bigger shock realized that the voices must belong to humans. They were heading his way.

   "Eugh," Mikey uttered as he tripped, stumbling over his feet. He looked back at the tunnel the voices were coming from and his eyes widened when he saw their elongated shadows moving on the curve of the tunnel. Mikey's mouth dropped open in terror. He had seen humans on their television set, but never in real life, and with the stories what Splinter told them could happen if they were caught by humans, Mikey didn't ever want to.

   The little turtle panicked as he started running away. Where was the turn he had taken to get back to his brothers? He couldn't find it, but he found something else: A dead end and a ladder. Mikey's heartbeat started racing. He was trapped, and the voices were still heading his way. Mike looked at the ladder, following it up until his eyes rested on the circular hole in the ceiling. There was a very small moon of light shining down where the lid had not been covered properly, probably by these men, but Mikey thought quickly; he might be able to hide up on the world above until they were gone, and then he could crawl back down and need never tell Splinter or his brothers he went into the city.

   Mikey gasped as a loud echo of a male voice reached his ears, and in his fear he disobeyed Splinter's order and frantically climbed the ladder. But the manhole was massive, and very heavy for the small turtle, and his teeth gritted as he used all of his strength to push it away. It grinded against the pavement above, and made a hole big enough for the turtle's small body to fit through. He climbed the last rungs of the ladder aware the humans below were seconds away from seeing his legs dangling from the hole. Mikey hoisted himself out of the hole, and his eyes automatically closed against the light glare of the world above his own.

   His little heart was jolted so hard when a horribly blaring sound ripped through the air, right in front of him, and Mikey had no time to see what it was before his wind was almost knocked from him and him by someone pushing him out the way, and then someone had picked him up and covered his mouth as something huge roared past him, blowing up his bandanna tails. Tears started to well in his eyes as he began to whimper. What had he gotten himself into coming up here?

   "Shush, Michelangelo," said a soft feminine voice, and the hand lifted.

   Mikey realized he was in the arms of a woman. She was cradling him much like she would a baby, and he looked around at his surroundings in front of him first, eyes having slowly adjusted to the fierce light. He was looking into a clearing in what he could only guess as New York's Central Park. To him, it was beautiful; he had never seen so much green. Trees, plants, grass, bushes. He was in a small clearing, under a tree whose branches draped down so low Mikey could touch them. But he didn't move. Instead, he directed his eyes to the face of the human that was holding him.

   A very pretty face of a young woman smiled warmly down at him. Her features were as beautiful to Mikey as the strange new surroundings. Her green eyes showed nothing but warmth and calm, and her lips were pulled in a smile that matched. Falling over her face were strands of shining blond hair, spiraling past her chin and swaying softly in front of Mikey's wide eyes. Her smooth skin invited Mikey to reach out with a curious hand and touch her cheek to see what humans felt like. Her skin was smooth, not unlike his and his brothers, but very different to Splinter, and Mikey looked at the size of his hand compared to her cheek: He was tiny. His action of curiosity despite his situation made the woman's smile widen. She brought up one of her own hands and picked up Mikey's. He looked at the difference.

   "Hello, Mikey," she said in a warm, quiet tone.

   How did she know his name? Mikey was too overwhelmed with feelings to ask. Why did he get the strong impression that she was not going to hurt him? He just knew. She had just saved him from something that would not have ended well – or painlessly – had she not been there.

   Finally, after unblinkingly staring at her face, he opened his mouth and stuttered silently on his words before he managed to speak.

   "A-are you an Angel?" He asked in a whisper. He was still lying in her arms.

   She blinked and her smile that had softened while he spoke returned, curving the bottom of her eyes.

   "I'm _your_ angel," she replied, setting him down on his own feet in front of her.

   The feel of grass on the soles of his feet was new, and very pleasant. Mikey glanced down to look how his feet sunk into the millions of blades, wishing he could share this feeling with his brothers.

   "Your brothers are looking for you," the woman said, glancing through the trees at the manhole two men had exited the sewer from only a few seconds ago. She returned her gaze to the stunned little turtle and smiled again. She took his tiny hand in hers and stood. "Come, it is safe to cross the road now."

   He didn't question her. He walked with his hand held in hers (meaning his arm was at full length in the air to reach her hand) and they walked out of the green onto a harder surface of concrete. Mikey did not hear a thing except the padding of his bare feet on the floor, and his slowly calming heartbeat. He realized he could not hear any footsteps of the woman right beside him, and he looked up with his large eyes. Her hair seemed to flow slowly in a breeze that wasn't that, and the white robes she had on were like silk, pearl sheets wrapped around her body loosely, and another around her shoulders, billowing soundlessly behind her. She guided Mikey to the manhole, to where the lid had been moved for the much larger form of the male humans to fit through. She let go of his small hand and picked him up under his arms, gently lowering him into the hole, and placing him on the rungs of the ladder. He clung to the ladder and looked up at her as she pulled back her arms and smiled down at him.

   "Your brothers are calling, Mikey," she said, and Mike would hear a faint echo as she spoke. She moved back from the manhole, but Mikey reached out a hand.

   "No – don't go," he said as he replaced his hand on the ladder to regain his balance.

   "I have to," she replied, smiling. Her eyes twinkled, and Mikey noticed she was slowly fading.

   "I don't want you to," Mikey said, his lip trembling. For a few seconds he thought he would have another friend. For a few seconds a new surge of excitement at the idea coursed through him. But it demised. "I don't want you to go." New company was nothing he had ever known before having lived all his young life with his brothers, isolated from anything else. A single tear fell down each cheek.

   "I won't be gone," she said, her smile never left, but her figure was fading fast now, and her voice echoed like sound in the sewer tunnels. "I'll always be watching you . . . I'll always look out for you . . ."

   And she was gone.

   Mikey stared where she had disappeared, and blinked back his tears to clear his vision as something in the air above him floated down to and fro in the air. Mikey reached out a hand and caught the leaf, looking down at the amazing pattern in the green skin. He looked back up when the light above him darkened, and saw the lid of the manhole had been replaced without a sound. Mikey's large eyes started at the wall in front of him, behind the ladder, for a few seconds, and the tears stopped welling. 

   Something made the turtle look to his left, down the dark sewer tunnel. He could hear the distant shouts of his brothers, searching for him. He looked back down at the leaf, and closed his hand around it. He then started to descend the ladder, and started running back to his brothers. His young mind knew they nor Splinter would not believe him, and when they found him a minute later, hastily wiping his eyes to hide the tear tracks, he did not say anything of what he saw. But later on, as he grew older, he concluded from the things told to him by his brothers of things they thought was either 'luck' or a miracle, that they _all_ had a Guardian Angel watching over them.

**** ****

   They wouldn't believe me even if I told them now. Donny has put too much trust in his scientific explanations, and Raph has never believed someone would be watching over him because they cared. But Leo . . . Leo was neither a believer, nor a skeptic, and he did not question any act of luck.

   I realize now, after looking back at that memory that the woman I called an angel had saved my life. I would have been killed had I been hit by that car at the speed it was going. She revealed herself to save my life that one time, since I had no option but to flee above to hide from the human men. She understood that I had no choice, and unlike many, many people, my Guardian Angel was allowed to show herself to save me. I know it is the only explanation to Raph's survival this far after all the risks he had taken. He had been watched upon, and saved. Donny, I'm sure, had been saved from many serious electric shocks from his work. And Leo . . . well, let's just say there's someone above who is relaxing with their feet up, smiling.

   As for Splinter . . . he's all of our Guardian Angel, watching us from the same level. Maybe we are meant to survive for something important in the future to have special things like that. And of course, as well as believing in angels and my father, knowing they do all they can for us, I believe in my brothers, knowing they'll always be there for me and each other.

   I feel really special knowing I have someone watching over me. And while I know it, my brothers will always dismiss it as good luck, but I'm always there when they say it, smiling.

~

   Okay, slow beginning, sorry. Ack, different theme for me. Hope you liked.


End file.
